Why Is Bluetooth Called 'Blue' Tooth?

As a fashionable tech enthusiast, there are a few products that enhance personal style in life:Bluetooth headsets, Bluetooth mice, Bluetooth speakers, smart wristbands…

Just buying one, even if you haven’t started using it, will make you feel like your life has instantly elevated in quality, and the tech factor skyrockets.

Why Is Bluetooth Called 'Blue' Tooth?

Bluetooth (Bluetooth) is a term we are all too familiar with.But if you keep saying ‘Bluetooth’ and using Bluetooth, what exactly is Bluetooth?

This story starts with a Danish king

Bluetooth is actually a short-range wireless communication technology that enables voice and data transmission over a global open standard.

But why is it called ‘Blue’ Bluetooth?

This can be traced back to the 10th century Danish King Harald Blåtand.

King Harald ruled Denmark from around 958 to 986, he was a great warrior who ended the Viking Age and unified much of Scandinavia, including present-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

The Danish word “Blåtand” translates to English as “Bluetooth”, hence this king is also known as Harald Bluetooth.

There are many versions of the origin of this name, one legend suggests that the king loved to eat blueberries, which stained his teeth blue.Some historians speculate that one of the king’s teeth rotted, giving it a blue appearance.

In 1996, Ericsson, Nokia, Toshiba, IBM, and Intel planned to establish an industry association to jointly develop a short-range wireless connection technology.The development team hoped that this wireless communication technology could coordinate and unify the work across different industrial fields like King Bluetooth.

Thus, this technology was named Bluetooth.

The Bluetooth logo is a combination of the ancient Nordic letters ᚼ and ᛒ, which are the initials “HB” of King Harald Blåtand.

Thanks to this magical logo, the story of this Danish king has truly become legendary.

Meaning of the Bluetooth logo

With Wi-Fi available

Why should I still use Bluetooth?

Both are short-range communication technologies, Bluetooth inevitably gets compared with Wi-Fi technology.So what are the differences between them?

Firstly, in terms of usage, we usually connect multiple devices to the same Wi-Fi to access the internet, which is a one-to-many connection method; whereas Bluetooth is a data transmission between two devices, which is a point-to-point connection method.

From this perspective, Bluetooth has a higher data security.

Secondly, because Bluetooth uses microstrip antennas, it is compact and easy to integrate into devices, and the cost of Bluetooth modules is very low, resulting in a high penetration rate of Bluetooth devices.However, Wi-Fi devices require separate network cards and routing equipment, which are more expensive and consume more power.

In some scenarios, Bluetooth is more suitable than Wi-Fi.

For example, friends in Shanghai often use an app called ‘Metro’ when taking the subway.

Image source: Shanghai Local Treasure

To protect passengers’ property safety and prevent QR codes from being fraudulently scanned;

This app requires users to turn on Bluetooth when in use, so the turnstile and phone can verify each other, and only when verification passes will the turnstile open.

If this app used the internet or Wi-Fi for authentication, poor network conditions on the passenger’s phone would affect their ability to enter and exit the turnstile.

In this case, using Bluetooth for secure authentication is a more appropriate solution.

Does using Bluetooth consume power?

But if you have to keep Bluetooth on just to take the subway, won’t it drain your phone’s battery?

To clarify this issue, you need to understand the recent advancements in Bluetooth technology.

Currently, we use two types of Bluetooth: traditional Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

Traditional Bluetooth uses a point-to-point communication method, which maintains a continuous connection, generally used in scenarios with larger data volumes.

For example, Bluetooth headsets and audio devices use this connection method.

Why Is Bluetooth Called 'Blue' Tooth?

Compared to traditional Bluetooth, the biggest advantage of BLE is its very fast search and connection speed and low power consumption.BLE completes a connection (scanning devices, establishing a connection, sending data, etc.) in about 3 milliseconds.After the task is completed, it quickly switches to a “non-connected” state, minimizing power consumption.

However, BLE has a physical bandwidth of only 1 megabit, so its data transmission rate is low, hence BLE is generally used for devices that require high real-time performance but have very small data packets, such as keyboards and remote controls.

Why Is Bluetooth Called 'Blue' Tooth?

Using the ‘Metro’ app as an example, this app utilizes BLE technology.

When passengers pass through the turnstile, the app can quickly establish a connection with the turnstile via BLE and complete authentication; this process is almost imperceptible to the passengers and does not increase their waiting time at the turnstile.

Moreover, due to the use of BLE technology, Metro only needs to send a very small data packet to the turnstile.Once authentication is complete, Bluetooth quickly enters a ‘non-connected’ state, which greatly reduces power consumption, making it negligible for the phone.

Whether commuting to work, listening to music on the subway, or working wirelessly, the use of Bluetooth technology has made our lives much more convenient.

The next time you turn on Bluetooth, don’t forget to thank that Nordic engineering romance and that distant Viking-era Danish king.

References:

[1] https://gizmodo.com/bluetooth-is-named-after-a-medieval-king-who-may-have-h-1671450657

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth

Source: Guokr

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Why Is Bluetooth Called 'Blue' Tooth?

Why Is Bluetooth Called ‘Blue’ Tooth?

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